Newport Beach’s 2 Piers to Receive Most Extensive Face Lifts in 60 Years

Newport Beach’s two landmark piers are about to get their most extensive face lifts in 60 years as workers replace both decks in hopes of protecting the structures against pounding waves that proved too tough for some neighboring piers.

The Newport and Balboa piers have been battered by decades of heavy surf, to the point that engineers say both structures could suffer fatal blows in the event of a major El Nino-type storm. Though the piers are still safe for people to use, officials say immediate repairs are needed to protect the structures for the next 20 years.

The city will spend nearly $3 million to replace the boardwalks of each pier, painstakingly removing battered concrete and weathered wood. Some eroded pilings will be replaced.

The piers are “suffering big time,” said Lloyd Dalton, the city’s design engineer, who is supervising the work. “With all the deterioration and pounding from the ocean they have taken over the years, they’re not nearly as strong as they were in 1940.”

Waves are not the only thing threatening the piers. Shipworms and limnoria--wood-eating insects--have found their way into the timber. Trucks driving across the boardwalk to deliver food and supplies to restaurants at the ends of the piers are also wearing at the wood and concrete supports.

Both piers were built in 1940. The current Newport Pier replaced the famed McFadden’s Wharf, a center of pre-World War II commerce that was bisected by a trolley car tracks. The area around the pier was a top fishing spot, and the trolley brought produce, food and other goods. The wharf, however, was destroyed on Sept. 24, 1939, when a tropical storm smashed through with 30-foot-high waves and winds up to 62 mph.

The old Balboa Pier--built in 1906 as a way of luring residents to the then-deserted spot--was also destroyed by the 1939 storm.

Since 1940, the two piers have stood up to much pounding, faring better than others along the Southern California coast.

The Seal Beach Pier was severely damaged during El Nino storms in 1983 and had to be rebuilt. In 1998, an El Nino storm destabilized the Aliso Pier in south Laguna Beach. Orange County officials demolished the pier but said there wasn’t enough money to rebuild it.

“Typically, when these piers are damaged, the wave heights exceed the design waves and they start hitting the main structure of the pier as opposed to the piles,” said Michael McCarthy, an engineer with Moffatt and Nichol Engineers, a national firm that specializes in waterfront structures.

Both piers have wood superstructures, which support concrete decks. The decks are cracking and will be pulled out. Workers will replace the eroded wood bracing and metal bolts that connect the deck to the structure.

The city will use its portion of a settlement from the oil spill by the tanker American Trader, which ran aground off Huntington Beach in 1990.

The piers will remain open during much of the work, but each will be closed for about a month during the most intense construction. The Balboa Pier will be closed for much of January and the Newport Pier will close in February.

When the work is complete, the city will take steps to protect further damage to the structures. Trucks heavier than 8,400 pounds will be prohibited from using the pier. Currently, trucks up to 10,000 pounds are allowed to use the deck for deliveries.

The city also will be more diligent about enforcing these rules.

“We have been a little lax in policing that,” Dalton said.